Short-range wireless communication capability is becoming more prominent in a wide variety of mobile digital devices, such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants, pagers and other mobile devices. By equipping such devices with requisite short-range communication readers the devices have the ability to communicate via RFID, Bluetooth, infrared or other types of short-range communication dependent upon the type of reader/transceiver associated with the mobile device. Devices equipped with such readers are capable of receiving information from transponders, also referred as tags. As more and more portable digital devices become equipped with short-range wireless communication means, such as RFID and the like, the device's ability to access information and services expands.
Short-range communication tags are typically simplistic in design; including an integrated circuit that incorporates the associated short-range communication circuitry and sufficient memory to store the information that will be communicated to the transponder. As such, tags are typically contained within relatively compact packages, such as embedded within a credit-card type package, a key fob or the like. The compact nature of the tags makes them highly portable and adaptable to many different applications. However, the compact nature of the tag tends to limit the size of the memory unit and, thus, the amount of information that can be stored and transmitted by the tag is limited. Typically, current tags are limited to a memory size in the range of about 32 bytes to about 128 bytes of storage space. However, it is noted that next-generation tags may have upwards of 1000–3000 kilobytes or more of storage capacity. In addition to physical constraints, tags are typically high-volume, low cost devices that are generally disposable. Thus, even though the physical size of the tag may allow for additional memory space, the cost related to adding additional memory is typically economically prohibitive.
To overcome memory limitations, recent developments in tag technology have provided for tag information to be read and for network communication to be activated in which the read tag information is communicated to a dedicated external server, such as a web-based server or the like. The dedicated server is then able to retrieve and provide the reading device, such as a mobile terminal, with supplemental information that is associated with the information stored on the tag. See for example U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/775,450, entitled “Accessing Data in a Short-Range Wireless Communication Network”, filed 10 Feb. 2004, in the name of inventor Nystrom and assigned to the same inventive entity, Nokia Corporation, as the present invention. In addition, see U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/600,011, entitled “System, apparatus, and method for effecting network connections via wireless devices using radio frequency identification”, filed 19 Jun. 2003, in the name of inventors Byman-Kivivuori et al and assigned to the same inventive entity, Nokia Corporation, as the present invention. Both applications are herein incorporated by reference as if setforth fully herein.
However, in addition to memory limitations, the limited information that can be stored on a tag is static information and, as such, each reader is provided with the same information when the tag is read. In many instances, a need will exist to provide readers of tags with different information depending on who or what device is reading the tag. This is especially evident in the situation in which the tag information is related to a product.
The type of information that an individual will desire about a product will vary depending on if the individual is consumer or a retailer. For example, a consumer who is interested in purchasing a certain product has a desire in receiving general product-related information, such as, for example, manufacturer information, product specifications, consumer reports, pricing information and the like. The retailer (i.e., shop owner or employee) does not benefit from the information that would be provided to a consumer but, rather, has an interest in being provided other information, such as inventory related information, manufacturing data and/or date. In addition, the retailer may benefit from being provided an interface, e.g., web site or telephone number, for contacting a product supplier to re-order the product.
Currently, the consumer may be equipped with a conventional near-field communication reader (NFC) that allows for interaction with NFC-based RFID tags and the retailer, who is interested in receiving standardized product identifier information, such as Electronic Product Core (EPC) or Uniform Product Code (UPC) information, will require an alternate type reader to read and decode such information.
Thus a need exists to develop systems, devices and corresponding methods and computer programs for providing dynamic, tailored product information based on the current needs of the user of the reader device. In this regard, a single short-range communication tag would be capable of providing a consumer relevant product information while providing a retailer altogether different information relevant to a product retailer. In addition, a desire exists to combine standard tag information with standardized product identifiers, such as EPC or UPC identifiers, such that both forms of information can be captured and read by standard short-range communication readers and smooth adaptation of the information can be realized based on the current user needs.